Moving to the Country: If Not Now, When? – Part 3

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    by St. Funogas, Survival Blog:

    (Continued from Part 2. This concludes the article.)

    FINANCIAL CONCERNS, TAKING A VOW OF POVERTY

    In my case, retiring early and cashing out most of my 401k took a leap of faith to say the least. It helped that I was debt-free and willing to put up with almost any inconvenience and suffer financially if necessary if it meant finally getting to live my dream life in the country. That was my primary goal above all else. How to get by if the funds ran dry was only a secondary concern that I’d deal with later if necessary. That’s how bad I wanted to make it happen. If I had to stock shelves at my local grocery store until my social security checks started rolling in, so be it. If I had to live off my preps for five years, what an opportunity!

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    For those who want their own little place in the boonies but think they just can’t make it happen, I can’t stress enough this mindset of taking a leap of faith, tossing convenience to the wind, adopting the attitude of sucking it up, toughing it out, and doing whatever it takes to make it happen. If it becomes your primary goal in life you can make it happen. And I’m not just parroting Vince Lombardi here. There are much cheaper ways to build a residence than I did, I just had a certain kind of house in mind since way back when. Sheetrock and paint are much less expensive than wood walls inside. Some people can start out in a mini house and then upgrade later, then generating income by renting the mini as an Airbnb. The norm before mortgages were invented was to build a very small one- or two-room house when the family was small, designed to be added on to later. An addition was added as the family grew, and often a second addition later on, if needed.

    There are many alternative building methods that are worth investigating, some require lots of work but not lots of money: cordwood, hay bales, and rammed earth to name a few. Research these before you scoff! Some are pretty ingenious. In high school I had a friend who build a house from “short ends”, stacking them like bricks. Short ends are the pieces the sawmill cuts off the end of milled lumber to make it an even 8’, 10’, etc. They were available from her local sawmill for $5 a pickup load, $10 for anything larger. One of my local sawmills lets you have all the short ends you want for free. They also make great kindling and firewood.

    When I moved here after taking a 50% cut in pay, of course my income wasn’t going to be what it used to be. I had retired ten years early and basically had to take a vow of poverty for two reasons. First, I wasn’t sure how much it would cost to build my tiny little dream home. Secondly, I had only a very rough idea of how far my remaining funds would stretch once the house and shop were completed.

    When I bought my property, I eschewed conventional wisdom and cashed out most of my small 401k. Talk about leaving the safe harbor! Between my 401k and savings I was able to buy my property, build the small house and shop, and have enough to live off until my social security began. Had I not been fortunate enough to have the savings, or the intestinal fortitude to cash out so much of my 401k, I still would have moved to the country and worked at a lesser-paying job to make my dream come true.

    While growing up, my dad always said, “There’s needs and wants. Learn to distinguish between the two and your finances will go a lot further in life.” Understanding that difference and my second-nature frugalism over the years had paid off. I’ve never owned a new vehicle (the newest one I ever owned had 87,000 miles on it) and other than that $10 dollars my sister loaned me for the Jr. prom, I’ve never made an interest payment of any kind other than a mortgage payment. Avoiding interest payments and car payments and living a very frugal lifestyle all my life was a big factor in allowing me to save a lot of money every month and buy my homestead when I did. I’ve never been interested in “toys,” other than kayaks and mountain bikes, and have never been in the habit of making impulse purchases or wasting money on things because I “deserved” them. The only thing I deserved was a little homestead in the country. Whenever I go shopping, I always have a list, get in and out of the store as quickly as possible, and only rarely ever buy anything that’s not on the list. I steer clear of the Thin Mints aisle altogether. When we cultivate certain habits, we can stay out of debt and money can be saved a lot more quickly.

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